Zoning

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Zoning
is the division of a city or county into districts for the purpose of
regulating land use and development standards.
The typical zoning ordinance regulates land use by dividing the
community into districts or “zones” and specifying the uses that are to be
permitted, conditionally permitted, and prohibited within each zone. Text and
map(s) describe the distribution and intensity of land uses in such categories
as residential, commercial, industrial, and open space. Typically, land uses of
compatible intensity are grouped together and obnoxious or hazardous uses are
separated from residential and other sensitive uses to the extent possible. Zoning regulations establish procedures for
considering projects, standards for minimum lot size, building height and
setback limits, fence height, parking, and other development standards within
each land use zone.

Zoning
ordinances also include regulations and standards for a wide range of special
uses and activities. Zoning ordinance provisions can address such topics as
signs, design guidelines, wireless communication facilities, the keeping of
animals, transportation demand management, solar and wind facilities, and
airports.

A contemporary variation of traditional zoning
regulations are form-based codes. Form
based codes regulations focus more on design and less on use. Form-based codes address the
relationship the form and mass of buildings in relation to one another, and the
scale and types of streets and blocks. The regulations and standards in
form-based codes, presented in both text and illustrations, are based a
regulating plan that designates the appropriate form and scale (and therefore,
character) of development rather than only distinctions in land use found in
traditional zoning codes.

A joint initiative of San Joaquin Valley Councils of Governments representing each of the region's eight counties, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, the Great Valley Center, and the Fresno State Community and Regional Planning Center